Port of Fandom, Monday Morning

[doesnotkneel]

The thing about being a pirate who had also gone to a magical high school was that one did not, at all times, have full control over where one's pirating took one. Even less so than most pirates, in fact.

Luckily, Edward had grown used to the whole bloody mess. So when the seas became grayer and unusual landmarks began to pop up on the horizon, he simply sighed.

"Here we are, Adé. Not quite the plan, but still: Port of Fandom. Looks like summer, at least." He glanced towards his stoic quartermaster with a grin. "You'll finally get your pick of those sodas Grim was going on about last time."

Adéwalé snorted. "I would have preferred the ale you promised me in Nassau."

The Jackdaw pulled into port as if its crew had done this a million times. Which it hadn't, but it had done so a handful of times, and Captain Kenway's men didn't forget a strange port that quickly, and even if there were more ships this time, well, they found a place for their beloved brig.

[[ open! ]]

Comments

[okteiviakom]

There were more ships in the port this time, yes, and someone had been watching the Jackdaw make its way over from the deck of the bigger one.

Octavia was getting ready to go to Shunsui's class, but had stopped to watch the new ship arrive. The sight felt faintly familiar, but more like a dream than a memory.

One thing was for sure, though. "Duke's going to love this," she murmured to herself.

[doesnotkneel]

Edward squinted 'cross the water towards the other ship, and paced over to the side of his own to get a better look.

"Hello there!" he called. "Haven't I seen you before?"

It hadn't been nearly as long for him.

[okteiviakom]

There was a definite pause before a reply came, at that. Octavia tried to dig through her memory.

"Maybe," she called back. "Would explain why your ship looks familiar."

[doesnotkneel]

"I was here but a few months back," Edward said, laughing softly. "Did I make that little of an impression? I'm hurt."

[okteiviakom]

"I was gone for seven years."

Octavia could do deadpan at every volume.

"And that was who knows how long before I left."

[doesnotkneel]

"Really?" Edward bellowed, nonplussed. "Can't say I've heard that one before!"

That wasn't true. He'd just forgotten it somewhere around the fifth night out drinking the first time something similar had happened.

[okteiviakom]

"Well, this is Fandom."

What more was there to say about that?

[doesnotkneel]

"Suppose that explains how you found yourself a ship so quickly," Edward called, grinning. "Let's swap stories some day, aye?"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia considered pointing out she'd found herself two ships, but that was not something she wanted to be bellowing about right now.

"You planning to stick around?" she asked, instead. "Duke will probably want to meet you."

[doesnotkneel]

"As long as the island makes me," Edward yelled.

Then paused. "'s not the start of the semester, is it?!"

[okteiviakom]

Octavia shrugged. It was a bigger movement than she would normally have gone for. "It's the end of one?"

So, you know, technically...

[doesnotkneel]

Edward groaned. "If this means I'm being roped into another class," he said, "I'm riskin' a bloody mutiny."

[okteiviakom]

"That's between you and the moose."

Octavia picked up her bag off one of the crates on the deck of the Rouge.

"Good luck."

[betterthanaplan]

Octavia had let him know on her way to class about the new boat in the harbor.

Well. She'd let him know there was a new boat in the harbor, anyway.

The look of surprise turning to utter glee as Duke came up on the deck of the Rouge would be a pretty good indicator that Octavia had not given him many details about the new boat in the harbor.

"Ahoy the pirate ship!"

[doesnotkneel]

And there was the second voice coming from that boat in a day, or less. Edward made an amused noise and hopped onto the railing, knotting his hand in some of the rigging so he wouldn't fall off.

"Ahoy the... I don't know what your bloody ship is, mate," he called, Welsh accent bleeding into every syllable.

[betterthanaplan]

"Technically, it's a fishing trawler," Duke said. "Not that it does much . . . trawling. How's it going, man?"

[doesnotkneel]

"Well, I was in the West Indies about three hours ago, more or less," Edward called, leaning even further over the water, amused. "But when my alma mater calls, I suppose I've naught to do but come callin'."

[betterthanaplan]

"You went to school here! That explains some things." Like the very casual way a guy on an old school pirate ship responded to the pair of motorized boats in port with him. "Though I gotta say, some days I would totally prefer the West Indies."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward made an amused noise.

"Don't we all," he called. (Edward certainly had, somewhere in the dark days between 'Fandom student' and 'actual pirate'.) "What's your name, trawler lad?"

[betterthanaplan]

“It is definitely not ‘Trawler Lad’, or FUKE wtf!“ Duke said with a smirk. “Duke Crocker. Importer, diner owner, and occasional teacher, though I may have gotten off the hook for that last one this fall.”

[doesnotkneel]

"I'm still hoping to avoid that myself," Edward yelled. A pause. "You know, you're the second person on your ship I've spoken to by bellowin' today. Perhaps it's easier if you come over and have some ale?"

Might as well talk to people while he was stuck here.

[betterthanaplan]

"I cannot possibly turn down an invitation like that," Duke said. He tossed Edward a salute and hopped over the gunwale to head across the docks. "You know, my first semester here, the moose had me teaching a class called 'So You Want to Be a Pirate'."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward motioned for the others to put the plank down on the docks below, and they scurried to do just that. "Did you, now?" he called. "Not an after-school special, meant to scare them onto the path of righteousness, I hope!"

[betterthanaplan]

"I covered the 'real pirates will fuck you up' part day one, then went for the fun stuff." He tilted his head and shrugged. "The stuff that shows up in the movies, and some 'here's the reality of sailing' type classes. Pretty much whatever I happened to think of at the time."

[doesnotkneel]

Edward walked to the other side of the ship, where the plank laid ready.

"I taught something like sailing here once," he called. "Bloody island roped me into it."